


Operation Igpay Atinlay

by preferredmethodofprocrastination



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-05-20 16:02:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6015523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preferredmethodofprocrastination/pseuds/preferredmethodofprocrastination
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Operation Igpay Atinlay did not go off without a hitch. Peggy went back into training, with a group of young recruits to SHIELD and found herself both utterly in her element and utterly out of her newly found comfort zone. During her time as Peggy "Carver", a callback to her least favorite radio program of all time she finds herself perfectly in step with the new Agents, and yet just a half step ahead. To teach them her craft, she becomes one of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Peggy Is Brilliant Per Usual

**Peggy Carter**

She sat in the big soft chair at the big oak desk and sighed. Six years since the founding of SHIELD. For strategic reasons, Director Carter remained in the shadows. Most SHIELD agents didn’t see her face until their graduation from the academy, a select few did.

The year was 1952. Every waking moment she spent at SHIELD. Many of her sleeping moments were had on the little cot in her office too. She saved the commute for when she needed to get tea out of her stash, or switch out her suits in the closet for the ones in her office.

It wasn’t as if her job was boring. Though field work was little and hard to come by. And President Eisenhower had received remarkably few death threats that required her attention. Much of her time was dedicated to building up her intelligence empire. Rose still guarded the door. Daniel still used his crutch, he still smiled at her like she was his favorite person on the planet, and he taught new Agents. Thompson still ran the New York office. Angie acted.

“I’ve been thinking about a project,” she said. Howard had his feet on her desk, a sandwich halfway in his mouth but he nodded at her.

“You’re the boss, Peg. Do whatever you want,” he wiped mayonnaise from his bottom lip and she smiled. He never was going to grow up.

“I just want to run it by you to see if it sounds too crazy,” she braced her hands on the desk.

“You run a spy agency that protects the world’s population from Russian spies, zero matter, and ghost stories,” he said. “Nothin’ sounds too crazy,” he finished his sandwhich.

“I want to be in the next class of the SHIELD academy,” she said, slowly, enunciating clearly so there was no mistaking what she said for something else.

“What?” Howard spluttered. “Why?”

“I want to see if I can create any extra educational opportunities for them,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“You wanna see if they figure it out,” Howard stood and began pacing. “Oh, Peg, you are good.” She smiled.

“Exactly,” she nodded.

“That’s brilliant, actually,” Howard smirked. “Absolutely brilliant, Peg.”


	2. In Which Peggy And The New Kids Are Tested

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a lot longer than the first.

**Peggy "Carver"**

“Hello,” one of the recruits said. She was a tall limber girl. She played baseball in high school, on the boy’s team. She was very good and scored well on every academic test she’d ever taken.

“Hello,” Peggy replied, trying to look a little bit nervous. She held her case in one hand and her tactical bag was slung over her shoulder. She had thought that trying to look younger than she was, was useless. She was 31, old enough to have served through all the war. This girl was 19, barely old enough to vote and not old enough to drink, like many of the recruits into the SHIELD academy.

“I’m Jane Ranker,” Jane held out her hand.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Peggy Carver,” Peggy shook the girl’s hand, impressed and satisfied with the firmness of her handshake. As for her name, well, she had decided to make an homage to that horrid radio program from ’46 wherein she had been indirectly portrayed as a damsel in distress.

“You in the war?” she asked, motioning to Peggy’s tactical bag with its worn exterior.

“Yes, every bloody year of it,” Peggy set down her things next to the bunk labeled M. Carver.

“Wow, I was just a kid,” Jane grinned. She was, like many little girls too young to serve oversees, fascinated with stories of the war.

“I can see that,” Peggy nodded to Jane’s bunk, where a sack lunch lay. On it was a note, signed “Momma”. She smiled. She could tell at a glance that Jane was a sweet soul.

“People usually think I’m older than I am,” she straightened her skirt and pressed her hands over her shirt in a semblance of indignant pride.

“You’re just out of high school; you’ve never been away from home before. You have a packed lunch with hearts drawn on it from your Mum,” Peggy pointed out. Jane Blushed.

“Well you are sort of a spinster, you’re at least 30 and there’s no ring on your finger. You don’t have a husband, though you may have when you came over,” Jane crossed her arms over her chest.

“You are good,” Jane had gotten all but a few details spot on. “How did they recruit you?”

“Letter to my principal,” she said, relaxing a little bit. “Then they sent a guy named Agent Markus. He was what really got me interested,” she rubbed her hand over the back of her neck. Markus was a former salesman with a mouth made for talking fast and easy. He wasn’t young but he got the average young lady hot and bothered if he tried hard enough. It wasn’t just his attractiveness, but also his flashy skills that made them want to come. It was a simple promise of an equal opportunity, and his dazzling smile, that made them come flocking.

“I got Agent Markus too,” Peggy sat down on the bed next to Jane.

“How did he catch your interest?” Jane asked.

“He reminded me how fun it is to beat someone up,” Peggy said. “He snuck into my house and I beat him with a cricket bat until he flashed his badge and cried for mercy,” Jane’s face flushed with amusement and she snorted with laughter.

“Hello ladies,” three young men walked in at the same time. They appeared to be a bit older than Jane and a sight younger than Peggy.

“They told me there’d be dames, they did not tell me…” one with dark hair and a flashy smile said. He reminded her of a brunette Jack Thompson just enough that she snapped and didn’t allow him to finish his sentence.

“…That they’d slap you silly if you call them dames again?” she turned to Jane and nodded at her. Jane nodded her head in agreement.

“A shame they failed to mention that, Peggy,” Jane giggled and shook her head. The dark haired boy, named Ross Gilbert, flushed a little.

“If I can’t call you two dames what am I supposed to call you?” one of Ross’ friends asked. He looked like one of Angie’s cousins, but wasn’t. He had a darker complexion than his friends, and his hair was slick and black. He was Coolidge Amoretti. His parents had odd taste in names, but good taste in private boarding schools which accounted for his fluency in 6 languages. Their other compatriot, a boy named Robert Strong, was incredibly good at mathematics.

“Our names,” Peggy and Jane suggested in unison.

“Fair enough,” he nodded. There were introductions made and a pot of coffee was put on. While they talked, a few more came in.

Steven Wong, of San Bernardino, California and his three years of sniper experience in the war. Quentin Armistead came from Ohio with his incredible piloting skills. Delilah DuBois from nowhere Mississippi could swim better than half the sailors in the navy. Joshua White from Rockwell, Alabama had a talent for chemistry and beating people who offended him. Sofia Chavez walked in on account of her wartime codebreaking skills and her Spanish. They came, from here or there, until at seven o’clock sharp, Peggy heard Daniel’s crutch clicking down the hall. The recruits stood up and watched in awe as he positioned himself out in front of them. Peggy followed and managed not to smile when Daniel made eye contact with her.

“Welcome to SHIELD,” Daniel said. “I am Agent Sousa,” he paused. “Today begins your training,” he turned around and walked out. The door latched shut behind him. The other recruits looked at one another, puzzled. Peggy knew what was coming.

“That was weird,” Quentin said. He turned his head from one side of the room to the other. “That the only opening?” he pointed to the door. Peggy knew it was, he did not.

“Opening in where?” Sofia brushed thick dark hair behind her ear.

“The room,” Quentin said. “It doesn’t look like there’s any other windows,” he scratched behind his ear.

“What’s that?” Ross asked. A white gas seeped from the vents and into the room. It was just a knockout gas. The recruits did not know that.

“Gas,” Peggy said. Despite her knowledge of the harmless nature of the gas, it made her panic. It felt like one of those battlefield moments that tested your worth in Darwin’s view of the world. She immediately turned to the outer edges of the room. The masks were under their beds, along with their SHIELD issue med-kits and their uniforms, made to order, but the others had no idea.

“It’s a test,” Robert was the first to say it.

“Just because it’s a test doesn’t mean we shouldn’t actively avoid breathing it!” Peggy let her actual panic take over. Her breaths came too fast. Her heart raced. She had been gassed before, not badly, just enough to make her eyes water and he throat sore, but she had no desire for anything to take her out of commission so early in the game.

“Where would they put the masks?” Jane asked. She pulled her shirt up over her mouth and breathed shallow.

“Out of sight,” Coolidge said, stating the much needed obvious.

“Walls?” Steven asked.

“Cubbies?” Joshua wondered.

“Beds!” Deliliah said. She held her breath and ducked under her bed. Peggy and the others followed suit, coming up with a mask each and putting it on.

“Doing okay?” Jane asked Peggy. Peggy nodded and gasped into her mask. None of them looked disdainful or angry at her break of nerves. Their parents had served. They knew the stories of the war. They knew the stories of London, of all of Europe, of Japan and the Pacific. They knew gas was terrifying.

“Now we need to get out,” Peggy said. The rest of the recruits looked at her.

“Shouldn’t they just let us out?” Quentin asked.

“Why should they?” Peggy grabbed a hairpin and felt her way to the door. She fiddled with the handle and the lock clicked. The door opened and her hairpin fell out of it.

“Carver,” Coolidge said.

“Yes, Amoretti?” she asked, placing her hand on her hip and smirking.

“Did you learn that in Germany?” he asked.

“No. In Germany we just busted down the doors. I learned it at boarding school. I needed it to steal liquor and some knickers.” she managed to say it with a straight face and the others burst into laughter. The exhaust fans kicked in and the white clouds disappeared back into the vents from whence they came.

“What if there’s another test on the way to dinner?” Jane queried, taking off her mask.

“We should bring our things,” Delilah said.

“What things?” Robert asked.

“The stuff they put under our beds,” she answered. She pulled out the uniform from under her mattress and the little bag of gear. Contained within were a watch, a knife, a gun, no ammunition, and a piece of flint.

“I’m not entirely sure there is going to be dinner,” Peggy said. She held her gun by the barrel and shook it around. The rest of them continued grinning.

“I’m pretty sure I smell dinner,” Ross stuffed his hands in his pockets and eyed his uniform. Slowly but surely, they realized this was a coed facility. They donned their uniforms, Peggy too. She got a few funny looks because of her scars, but other than that the company was very polite about the whole thing.

“I would fight someone for a Coney dog right now,” Coolidge said.

“I wouldn’t be ruddy surprised,” Peggy muttered under her breath.

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to fight until after mess,” Daniel limped into the room and smiled at all of them. “You look almost regulation now, boys and girls,” Peggy straightened her uniform and smiled back at him. He gave them vague directions to the dining hall and they went, following him like ducklings. Peggy went to the back of the line. Her elaborate ruse was working well.


	3. In Which Coolidge Amoretti Watches Peggy Carver Closely

**Coolidge Amoretti**

Coolidge liked her, Carver. She was a tall glass of cool water in a place he thought would be the desert. There were more dames than he’d expected, though not more than he wanted. It wasn’t a shock if only because he’d hung around with all sorts when he was little. The mob liked using girls to get want it wanted done. They were usually efficient as spies and soldiers as well as real nice to look at. The thing he was truly curious about was her scars. There were three at least, and those were just the ones he’d gotten a gander at. She talked like one of the boys from the front lines, not some secretary. He supposed that’s why SHIELD had gotten her.

“The one on the back of your hip,” he said. Carver turned around to face him and frowned, puzzled. “The scar on the back of your left hip, it got a story?”

“Not one for the dinner table, Mr. Amoretti,” she said. Her hand went to the spot and touched lightly, remembering.

“But I bet it’s one worth hearing, eh?” she didn’t answer, only scooped some food onto her tray. “What did you do during the war?” he asked. She went stiff. There were bad memories there, behind her wall of humor and her armor of lipstick. She looked like she had shellshock near as bad as his dad. She did well, but maybe the stress of SHIELD wasn’t for her, so many years after the war.

“I’m afraid that has not been declassified yet,” she said, eyes on her plate. Jane joined them and was followed by the rest of their bunkroom. There were a few others in the mess hall, mostly dressed in uniforms like Agent Sousa’s, black with an enormous grey SHIELD eagle emblazoned on the front and the back. Their uniforms were simpler, made of the same material, but less attractive to look at and without the spreading blocky wings of the eagle.

“Something for the SSR?” he asked, shoving a spoonful of beans into his mouth. “Is that why they scoped you out? A familiar face?” he pestered and he could feel her grow annoyed with him. It made him feel all warm and toasty inside, knowing he could figure things out about her; that he could get under her skin.

“What part of classified don’t you get?” Chavez sat down across from him and next to Carver. She scowled at him and he relented.

“Alright,” he threw his hands up. “Just wondered is all,” he went back to eating his beans with gusto. They weren’t half bad.

“Well, wonder quietly,” Wong said, taking a bite of his apple. That was when Carver saw something. Her eyes squinted. Her lips pursed. She drew in a deep breath.

“Do you notice something?” she asked under her breath so that only those at the table could hear it. Coolidge leaned forward, intent on her words. He may not have been sure he trusted Carver but he trusted her instincts.

“Not gas again?” Delilah whispered.

“No, just quiet,” she said. “Do you see the instructor on my left?” the group took semi-surreptitious glances towards the Agent Carver mentioned. “Full plate and not eating,” it came to Coolidge’s attention that none of the instructors were eating, only looking over their shoulders at them and talking to one another in hushed tones. Even Sousa was doing this, conversing with an odd looking instructor whose badge read “Samberly”.

“Dinner is a trap,” Quentin sighed.

“What do we do?” Jane asked, nervously moving about in her seat.

“Go on eating until the trap snaps shut,” Carver put another bite in her mouth and looked at her watch. Coolidge felt a hand on his shoulder not seven seconds later and then he was being dragged to his feet by Sousa, by way of the collar of his uniform. He may have been a cripple but god damn and a half the guy was built.

“Aren’t you gonna fight me, Amoretti?” he asked. Coolidge didn’t swing wildly with his fists, or scream and kick like he saw Wong, Strong, or Armistead doing. They were fighting those who picked them up. There were a few people left untouched, one of them was Carver, who went on serenely eating her dinner.

That was when Sousa socked him across the jaw and he saw spots. He hit back. He kicked he bit. By the time Sousa dropped him there was a man attacking Carver as well. He was at least twice her size and the fight didn’t seem fair. She dangled. Amoretti hit Sousa with all his might and made to escape. Sousa grabbed him again. He proceeded to deck his new SO and run towards Carver.

As it turned out, she was fine without his assistance. She, unlike the rest of the recruits, had not his with fists, or elbows, or bitten with strong white teeth. She had grabbed her tray full of nutritious slop and smacked him across the face with it before breaking it over his thick skull. She was, at the point when Amoretti attempted to come to her aid, keeping him subdued with only her left arm around his tree trunk of a neck.

“Are you ready to relent, Agent Laurens?” she asked, giving him a playful slap on the top of his great bald head. He groaned.

“Yes, Miss Carver,” he said, his voice strained. She released him and he made a false bow in her direction. She returned it with a curtsey.

“You may call me Peggy,” she said. She rested her hand on her hip and watched as the chaos abated. Amoretti stood, in awe of her.

“She’s good,” Ross said to Coolidge under his breath. “She is scary good.”


	4. In Which Peggy Receives A Warning

**Peggy Carver**

“I thought you said after mess, Agent Sousa,” Peggy said. She brushed a lump of cold baked bean goop off her shoulder and smiled at him. Daniel smiled back and she could feel warmth spread to her cheeks. He brushed past her before he answered and left something resting in her palm. She didn’t look at it until after he spoke.

“I lied, which is something you all ought to get used to,” he addressed the SHIELD class and they nodded solemnly.

“Isn’t it your babies’ bedtime, Daddy Dan?” Laurens asked, rubbing his throat. Perhaps she had been a bit harsh on his neck. It was instinct; she could hardly be blamed for Daniel switching up the training program on a whim. Daddy Dan was his nickname among the other instructors. They thought he was too soft on his trainees. Field tests said otherwise.

“Go get some rest, you have PT tomorrow morning,” Daniel patted Peggy on the back just hard enough to be platonic.

“You have PT every morning, freshmen,” Laurens said with a wry smile.

“Thank you, Agent Laurens,” Peggy rubbed her rebar scar and stretched. “You’re beginning to remind me why I quit my military career,” they chuckled good-naturedly. Laurens had been one of her recruits. He had been stubborn and pigheaded at first, but when she found out he had a knack for martial arts _and_ teaching, she had pushed him hard. He grew to respect, and in some ways, venerate her.

Daniel’s note read “tone down your skills, director”. She smiled and tossed it in the trash.


	5. In Which Peggy Threatens Agent Sousa

**Peggy Carver**

“Why can’t they just gas us again?” Jane asked. She was lying on her stomach, her hair still wet from showering. Peggy read one of the training manuals she had written. She knew it front to back, but she searched for grammatical errors and added little annotations in the margins. The others studied in earnest. Their brows furrowed.

The real reason Jane wanted to be gassed again rather than doing their third week of straight daily nonstop 6 hours of PT was because, metaphorically, Aunt Flo was visiting. All of them, all four of them, were smack dab in the middle of shark week. None of them moaned about it to the boys. None of them let on that they were bleeding constantly all week long, and the boys were none the wiser. That was until Delilah bled through during their afternoon session at the shooting range.

“Excuse me,” she said quietly to Daniel, who stood to the side, watching them shoot.

“What is it, DuBois?” he asked.

“I need to use the restroom,” that caught Peggy’s attention. She knew in her soul Daniel was about to go off on a tirade about this being a spy agency not a preschool.

“Really, DuBois,” he said, moving closer. “Now?”

“Yes, now,” she said.

“Agent Sousa,” Sofia joined in. The boys were looking on and Quentin and Wong were whispering. “I need to use the restroom too,”

“Absolutely not.”

“Agent Sousa,” Jane tried to say something to him but he stopped her.

“What part of no do you ladies not understand, or is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Daniel Carlito Sousa,” Peggy snapped. She was, for once, far past her breaking point. The whole class turned to look at her. Sousa turned incredibly slowly. Peggy Carver had gained Agent Sousa’s respect over the past four months, but nothing to warrant the unbridled insubordination that followed. “Are you really that stupid or do I need to spell it out for you?”

“Carver, I don’t know who you think you’re talking to…” he tried to play it off like he was the one in charge of the situation.

“Agent Sousa, need I remind you who is angry and has a gun in her hand?” Peggy was trying very hard not to be as good at gunmanship as she truly was. She missed the target sometimes, other times made her shots off center, or off kilter. When she threatened him, she turned away from the target and shot it twice in the head without looking. Coolidge looked stunned.

“No, Miss Carver, you do not,” he folded his hands behind his back. “Since you’re apparently in charge, would you mind telling me how I should proceed?”

“Let the ladies use the loo before I make you spring a leak,” she growled. She emptied her clip into the head of the paper target with frightening accuracy. The others were speechless.

“You are all dismissed. You have ten minutes,” Daniel said through gritted teeth. The girls gave a quiet thank you, the boys sauntered out and left Peggy and Daniel alone. She slammed another clip into the gun and shot the target straight to hell.

“Of all the days you had to be an arse, Daniel,” Peggy growled.

“Excuse me? How was I supposed to know…?”

“That girl is a perfect pupil. If you have no cause to criticize her why are you reprimanding her for asking for a bathroom break?”

“Are you all bleeding?” he asked, exasperated.

“Yes, Daniel! All at the same bloody time!”

“What do you sync your calendars?” he sat down and shrugged off his jacket.

“No our reproductive systems manage that just fine on their own!”

“That’s horrifying,” he rubbed his brow.

“It is much worse when you’re actually the one bleeding. God. I can’t believe you. You’ve had more relationships with women than anyone I’ve ever met in my life, myself included, and I went to an all-girls boarding school. You have had six girlfriends in six years and you have four sisters and your mother!” Peggy ranted. “Have none of them ever told you the basic mechanics of the whole thing?” she had gone through six clips in the course of six minutes.

“You feel terrible right now, don’t you?” he was suddenly close by. She lowered the gun. His hand went to her lower back and rubbed ever so gently, right where it ached. She almost wanted him to stop it felt so good. He reached out and placed a hand over her abdomen.

“I do,” she said. She relaxed back against him. He continued rubbing and breathing, warm and close, comforting and lovely.

“Anything I can do to help?” he murmured. He pressed a kiss to her neck. She paused and took a deep breath. His hand gently massaging the tension out of her back was heavenly. She leaned against him.

“Not really,” she murmured. “This is nice,” they heard footsteps in the hallway and Daniel backed away. Peggy continued. “I’m sorry, sir. That was out of line,” Coolidge, Ross, and Robert sauntered in, closely followed by the rest of the group.

“Apology accepted,” Daniel said.

Later that night Delilah thanked her.

“You could have gotten yourself kicked out for that, Carver,” Coolidge murmured.

“No, she’s too good for them to kick out,” Ross said, flipping the page of his magazine.

“She’s no better than any of us,” Coolidge said.

“She is,” Wong whispered.

“She is in the room thank you very much,” Peggy found a comma error and smiled to herself once more.

“But really, Carver,” Ross said, sitting up on one elbow. “You seem to know the entire curriculum back to front,” he said.

“I read the manuals, and I pay attention,” he rolled on his back and snorted.

“And what about you and Sousa? He giving you lessons after class?” Coolidge asked.

“Excuse me?” She said. She set down the manual and looked at him.

“Let’s stop this conversation before Coolidge gets his eyes stabbed out,” Joshua said.

“Sounds good to me,” Daniel stood in the doorway. “Pack your stuff and get to sleep; you’re going on a trip tomorrow,” he turned around and hobbled out of the room.


End file.
